


Return to Mandalore (Part 2)

by TabbyWolf



Series: Hope will never die [7]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, I don't know how to tag this, Mandalorian Culture, Siege of Mandalore, Time Travel Fix-It, background anidala, coming to terms with having a child that's your age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22633615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabbyWolf/pseuds/TabbyWolf
Summary: The second part of the siege of mandalore (split in two because it made more sense to order it like this in the series, and also because I didn't know how to call this fic otherwise) in my AU where Rex and Ahsoka hava a child that comes back from the future to warn them about order 66Jaig sees a lot more from her past/future now that they're getting closer to where she grew up. She has to come to terms with finding a new place in the universe. Luckily, her parents and uncles are by her side
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano & OC, CT-7567 | Rex & OC, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, OC & 332nd battalion
Series: Hope will never die [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1400095
Comments: 27
Kudos: 70





	1. Training and Bonding

Rex woke up to a montral poking his eye. He pushed Ashoka off of him, and sat up in their shared bedroll.

Ahsoka slept through being pushed off, and he smiled at her. She looked so adorable when sleeping, even if she was a bit clumsy with her lekku and montrals. He had always wondered if they didn't bother her while lying down, but now he knew that they were actually quite soft and not particularly sensitive to pressure. The skin was sensitive to rough textures, but she could lie down on them if she wanted too. Assuming the surface was pleasant. Usually she just used him for that.

They hadn't done much in terms of intimacy yet, but that was okay with him. They didn't have enough privacy to take their time anyway, and he didn't want to rush anything. And he'd gotten to kiss her plenty of times, so that was a plus. And they cuddled often enough.

He stroked the side of her face and her eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning, cyare"

"Morning" she said.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did" she said as he leaned in and kissed her.

"Well, that's good to hear." he said as he grabbed today's schedule "Today you have lightsaber training with Jaig, and then some planning with Bo-Katan and then you have the evening free. I have drills with Torrent and then practice at the shooting range with the other ARCs. We don't have anything to do this evening"

"Oh, that's nice. What do we owe this to?"

"The men decided we should get some alone time" he said, giving her another kiss.

"I said I wanted to take it slow, remember?"

"I know, and I'm fine with that. I'm just saying, if there's anything you want to try, we can"

"Hmmm... I'll think about it" She said before giving him a kiss and getting up. Rex smiled to himself before getting up himself. He was so lucky that everything had worked out.

* * *

The white blades clashed with the blue ones as several of the onlookers cheered, but Jaig ignored them. She pulled her blades out of the lock and jumped back. Ahsoka jumped after her, forcing her to land in a defensive position to block the next attack. It was a low move to do that. The jump had given Jaig an opening that she had to ignore, because she would seriously hurt her mother if she acted on it and Ahsoka knew Jaig wouldn't do that. So now, she braced for impact and blocked the blades coming in from both sides.

She took a swing at her mother's legs, forcing her to jump. She did a backflip like the show off she was but Jaig didn't follow her. A sparring match wasn't until someone got injured, it's goal was to practice together. So they usually kept fighting until one of them got too exhausted and messed up. That had always been Jaig, and she was determined to not be outdone this time.

Ahsoka landed on a stack of crates

"I win" she said.

"Why would you think that?" Jaig said.

"I have the high ground" Ahsoka smirked at her daughter.

Jaig considered the situation for a second. Fighting her mother head on would be a bad idea. Bringing your blade down was significantly easier than raising it. Moving to even higher ground or even just even ground would be impossible, since the top crate only allowed for one person to stand on it, at least in combat situations. Jumping over her would be foolish, she'd give her mother a massive opening that would allow her to take a swing at whatever she wanted. but she wouldn't want to swing at her. Even if the beskar could theoretically hold, it would damage her armour. If she tried that, Ahsoka would most likely be forced to evade her by jumping off the crate. She had to try it.

"You underestimate me" she said, more to impress the other mandalorians than to taunt her mother. Then, she jumped over her mother, using the force to gain as much height as necessary.

When she was at her highest, Ahsoka dropped her sabers and pulled out a tent pole from behind the stack. Kriff.

Ahsoka hit Jaig straight in the stomach, where she didn't have any armour protecting her. She was thrown into the dirt. Her stomach hurt, and it'd leave a large bruise, but she was used to injuries like that now.

Her mother jumped off the crates and landed in front of her, pointing her saber at her visor.

"I win"

Jaig tried to get up, and Ahsoka offered her her hand. She took it and she pulled her up.

"You fought well" Ahsoka said.

"Thanks mom"

"I hit you pretty hard. Do you want to take a break?"

"Yeah"

The crowd dispersed, and they sat down on the stack of crates, Jaig grabbed a couple of protein bars and handed some to her mother as well.

"I don't know how you keep winning" Jaig sighed.

"It's your armour"

"What? How?"

"Armour is useful against blasterbolts, but it weighs you down. It's not too bad when you're duelling, since those are usually over pretty quickly. But when you're facing a lot of enemies, being exhausted is something you can't afford. And deflecting blasterbolts with your saber is easier in the long run. Your father never understood that"

Jaig nodded. "Well, if you're using a blaster, moving around that much usually mean you won't get the opportunity to aim. Armour is way more useful in that situation"

"Yeah, I understand. Rex just never used a lightsaber like I did, so he doesn't know how much of a difference it makes"

"I never had a lightsaber fight without armour. Dad wouldn't let me. He's afraid I'll get hurt"

"Beskar doesn't protect that well against lightsabers anyway" Ahsoka said "It will hold really well for armour, but it won't hold if you hit hard enough. Do you want to try without it?"

"Yeah, sure" she said "After I eat my ration bar"

"Of course"

* * *

Rex had just finished running Torrent through some drill and now he was trying to find the other ARC troopers. They wouldn't be too hard to find, they were all off duty right now and they probably watched the sparring between Ahsoka and Jaig.

He made his way through the crowd that had formed around them and ended up in the front row next to Fives "Captain, you're here. They've been at it for a much longer this time"

Rex looked at his wife and daughter, and saw that Jaig had taken off her armour.

He fired a warning shot at them to get them to stop fighting. It might have seemed a little cruel to people who weren't familiar with the Jedi, but he knows they'd be too focused to pay much attention to him if he just talked to them while they were doing their lightsaber training and this usually got their attention.

Both of them stopped fighting and looked at him.

"Hi dad" Jaig said with a shit eating grin.

"Why are you fighting without armour?"

"It was my idea" Ahsoka admitted.

"Why would you allow this?" Rex asked.

"Because armour slows you down during lightsaber combat. And I wanted to show her"

"She did last longer this time" Fives said.

"Stay out of this Fives, this isn't about you. Go to the shooting range."

"Yes Sir" Fives said before walking off with Jesse and Echo.

"She was right by the way" Jaig said.

"But you need armour to protect you against blasterbolts"

"I can deflect those"

"Oh no, you're not starting this too"

"No, I think I'll still use armour and blasters. I'm still better with those. But I'm not going to wear my armour for sparring with mom anymore"

"But what if you get hurt?" Rex asked.

"I won't hurt her, don't worry" Ahsoka said.

Rex shook his head. "Alright then. Anyway, it's time to put the armour back on and come train with us now"

"Alright dad. This time, I'm going to outshoot you"

"We'll see about that" he said. "And Ahsoka, you're late for your meeting with Bo-Katan"

"Kriff"

"Don't worry," Bo-Katan said from where the crowd had been "I was distracted too. That was quite a show, Ahsoka"

"Thanks" She said.

* * *

Rex was sitting in his bedroll in his blacks, looking at the final scores of today's shooting exercises. Jaig had caught up with her uncles in the last few months, and she'd almost beaten him. He was proud of her. He had just taken a shower to get the exercise sweat off, and now he was waiting for Ahsoka to be done with her shower.

Just then, Ahsoka came inside their shared tent with a bottle of booze. Not the strong kind that was used to forget certain things, she had actually gotten wine for once. The cheap grocery store kind, but he didn't give a kriff about if it was fancy or not. No one could taste the difference anyway according to the general, who was the only one who had actually had the fancy stuff at some kind of party with the senator.

"Wine? What's the occasion?" Rex asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I've been thinking... I want to see where this is going" she said as she took a swig and handed it to him. He drank some of it as well. It was a sweet one with low alcohol. If he had to guess, the wouldn't get too drunk from this, not even if they drank the whole bottle. Maybe if they downed it immediately, but he didn't want to rush this.

"I thought you wanted to wait a bit longer? Are you sure?" he said as she sat on his lap, straddling him inside his bedroll.

"Mostly, but honestly I think most of my doubts are just nervousness and knowing that there's a risk of pregnancy. I don't know how far I want to go yet, but let's see" She said, leaning in to kiss him.

He kissed her back, and decided he'd let her take the initiative here. But still, a part of him was curious. He raised his hands to her face, but quickly resorted to ghosting them over her lekku.

"Is it alright if I touch them?" he asked, looking up at her "I've always been curious what they felt like"

"Yes" she said before kissing him again.

He touched her lekku gently, surprised at how soft they were. Both lekku gently wrapped around his wrists.

He broke the kiss and gave her a surprised look.

"They can move?"

"Yeah, but they're not very strong so there's no use for that. They can only do that for body language purposes, and Jaig is the only one who can read that anyway"

"Can you teach me?"

"I'll have to ask Jaig. She said she liked having our own private language in the future"

"Wait, were the two of you talking behind my back in the future?"

"No, It's not that complicated. It's the equivalent of rolling your eyes. Or what tooka can do with their ears and tail. And some simple gestures. It's not a whole language."

"Okay. Well, thanks for the info. How strong are they?"

In response, she pulled on his wrists. She wasn't pulling very hard, but it still surprised him that she could pull at all.

"Nice" he said.

"Can I touch your hair?" she said.

"Yeah, of course" he said.

She leaned in again and kissed him while stroking his hair, still holding his wrists with her lekku. He didn't know where this was going, but he'd be happy wherever it went.

* * *

Rex woke up in his underwear to the sound of a comm ringing. He checked the chrono. 5:53. What idiot was calling them before they got up? Then he realized it must've been an emergency and he got up to find his blacks.

Ahsoka put on a bra and picked up the comm, audio only because she wasn't wearing enough clothes yet.

"Ahsoka! How is Mandalore?"

"Good, we almost got shot today" she replied dryly, looking at Rex. He sheepishly smiled back at her and put the top half of his blacks on. He still hadn't found the bottom half. Then he remembered that it was inside the bedroll.

"Sounds good. At least it's better than actually getting shot"

She laughed at that. "How's Padmé?"

Rex decided that since the rest of the camp was probably still asleep, he should probably get new blacks from the laundry tent instead of disturbing Ahsoka. He made for the opening of the tent.

"She's doing great. She's exhausted from the senate hearings. Dooku is perfectly willing to talk, he-"

Ahsoka interrupted what the General was saying and addressed him directly.

"No, stay here you di'kut. I'll get back to you after I'm done talking to Skyguy"

"Yes Sir" he said in a teasing tone, hoping his General didn't hear that. He sat back down and waited for Ahsoka to finish talking to her master. He'd get his pants back then, even if he had just literally forgotten them. Like a di'kut.


	2. Family Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaig discusses the future with several people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the next chapter. Enjoy!

Jaig had just finished setting up her tent at the new campsite when she noticed Ahsoka was watching her. As soon as she noticed that Jaig had spotted her, she walked over.

"Hey Jaig. Do you have any plans for today?"

"Hi mo- Ahsoka. No, I haven't received my schedule yet."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that"

"About my schedule"

"No, about you calling me mom. I think I'm starting to be okay with that. It still feels odd, but I think it's time for me to get used to it"

"Okay. Thanks mom"

"No problem. I also wanted to talk about your schedule today. There's a village nearby, and they support our cause. Bo-Katan managed to buy rations from them, and we could go pick them up and spend some time looking around"

"Sure. Who's We?"

"Just us and Rex"

"Ah, so a family outing. Except without my uncles"

"Yeah, basically"

"Sounds great"

"Great. We could go right away. It's already afternoon and I don't want to wait too long"

* * *

An hour later, the three of them were walking through the small town or large village or whatever it was. Rex never knew the difference. Well, a town was larger than a village. But when something was big enough to be considered a town, he didn't know.

He looked around. This was the first time he was able to observe civilians in their natural habitat. Normally, they reacted to his armour and military presence, but now that he was in civvies and doing his best to walk casually, they didn't pay him much attention. 

"What's that building?" He asked Jaig.

"That's a grocery store"

"What is it for?"

"It's where you buy food and other necessities"

"Oh, like what necessities?"

"Cleaning supplies, drinks..."

"They sell alcohol?"

Ahsoka laughed. 

"No, dad. Well, they do. But I meant other drinks. Soda, juices, dairy... That kind of stuff"

"It's also cheaper than at the bar, but you need to be legally an adult to buy it. And I don't know if they'll accept your military ID"

"If they don't I'll ask some of the Nite Owls. How cheap can it get?"

"Three credits for a bottle of wine" Ahsoka said "Where did you think I got that bottle from? A bar?"

"Yeah,that's where you get booze"

Ahsoka just rolled her eyes and smiled. 

"Jaig already told me you did have a pretty hard time adjusting to civilian life. It took you a year before you fit in. And that was on Mandalore, can you imagine how long it would take on a non-warrior planet like Coruscant?"

Rex laughed at that "I think Coruscant would bring a whole different set of problems. They'd know I'm a clone as well. Mandalorians didn't see enough clones without their buckets to recognize us on sight."

"Also the place was crawling with stormtroopers. Some of which were clones during the first year" Jaig added.

"Oh yeah, that would be a problem" Rex said, recalling what she'd told him about stormtroopers and how she'd already surpassed them with a blaster by age 12, but how she wasn't proud of that because being able to hit a stationary target from 25m should be considered the minimum. 

"Yeah," Jaig said "Luckily Mandalore never had a lot of issues with stormtroopers. We were allowed to have our own imperial militia. But most other planets were crawling with them. That's why I never left Mandalore until..."

"Until what?" Ahsoka asked

"I don't want to talk about that" Jaig said.

"Okay." Ahsoka said "So you've never been on vacation?"

"Yeah, I have. We always went camping in the biodome and you guys taught me all kinds of survival techniques"

"Sounds fun. What's the biodome?" Rex asked.

"The one thing Duchess Satine did that everybody liked. It's a dome, the same size as Sundari's, but with Mandalore's natural climate restored inside. You know, from before the constant wars started to affect the environment"

"What kind of climate was it before the Mandalorians destroyed it?" Ahsoka asked.

"A lovely temperate climate, with a lot of leafy vegetation"

"We're almost at the pick up point" Rex said.

* * *

Later that evening, they sat around several campfires. Ahsoka had crawled into Rex's lap and he was absent-mindedly stroking her between her montrals. Jaig smiled to herself. It was good to see her parents together again, even if she wasn't a fan of PDA, especially when it was her parents.

"So, how strict are you with that whole not telling people their future thing?" Bo-Katan asked.

Jaig looked away from her parents and looked at the future mand'alor.

"Depends on what you want to know"

"Honestly, I was hoping to get some political advice" she admitted "I hope that's okay with you"

"Yeah, that's fine. I mostly have issues with telling people their personal fate. Most of my uncles didn't make it or had a horrible future in store for them. I didn't want them to know that, since it's a bit morbid. The only two that know are my dad and Fives."

"Why did you tell them?"

"My father's death was 20 years into the future. and if he hadn't died then, he'd probably die of old age five to ten years later. So I thought he might be able to deal with it, but he was still pretty distraught. Fives died shortly after Ringo Vinda, but since I knew how he died I managed to prevent that. I only told him that he had died there in my timeline afterwards"

"Alright. I think you did the right thing. I'd be pretty out of it if I knew I was going to die as well. But I heard that you knew me in the future. How?"

"You adopted both My parents into your house after the clones were given the order to execute their Jedi. Dad refused and ran away with my mom. You were essentially my aunt"

"Okay. I'm sorry, I don't know-"

"It's okay. I understand that it's not going to be the same as it was in my timeline"

"Okay good. That's less awkward then. So... Anything that might be relevant to Mandalore as a planet?"

"Honestly, I hope not. Mandalorian politics were heavily influenced by the empire. if the Sith Lord is caught in time, the empire will never exist."

"I still want to know about the empire. Just in case."

"The empire was a totalitarian regime. They were ruthless with most worlds, but they left Mandalore alone for the most part. Some clans swore allegiance to the empire, others did not. Clan Kryze didn't really have a choice. This siege had left Mandalore divided, and the empire did it's best to keep it that way. They allowed you to stay in charge, since you were both the rightful ruler and the cause of the siege"

"How did Mandalore fall under the control of the Empire?"

"The Republic became the Empire. Any previously invaded territory was seized. The same thing happened on Ryloth, but they pissed off Cham Syndulla and he started an open rebellion. That's also why they didn't bother Mandalore too much. They were afraid of organized resistance. If someone could have united the rebel cells that started to form in different systems, we might have had a chance. But if the Empire never becomes a thing, everything I know becomes irrelevant anyway"

"Well, at least it's good to know that I survive this"

"To be honest, I wouldn't count on it. Fives died in my timeline but survived in this one. I don't want you to assume that my timeline makes any guarantees about who survives this"

"That's fair enough. Can I ask more things later? Tomorrow, we have to prepare out attack on Nalic and I want to turn in early tonight"

"Yeah, no problem. Good night"

Bo-Katan just nodded and left.

Jaig got up as well, and decided to go sit with her parents. But they had apparently turned in for the night as well. She walked past their tent, to her own, when her mother came outside, looking pissed off.

"What happened?" Jaig asked.

"Nothing. Well, Skyguy was prying into my personal life so I let Rex deal with him. It's nothing major, I'll be fine"

"Alright" Jaig said, "I'm going off to bed now"

"Yeah, you should. But I had one last question, since we're getting close to Sundari now"

"What is it?"

"Where do you want to go after this siege is over? Rex and I will probably be sent back to Coruscant after the siege is over, but if you want to stay here, I'd understand. I'd just prefer to know that beforehand"

"No, I don't think I'll stay here. I've made a commitment to the GAR and I'm seeing it through to the end"

"Okay. Do you have any plans for after the war?"

"...No, I don't. It's gonna be hard too, since I legally don't exist"

"I know. You could always come live with us again"

"You don't have to take me in, I don't want to saddle you with the responsibility"

"I know, but we want you to."

"Alright. I'll consider it. If it's more practical that I move out right away, I'd prefer to do that"

"Of course. Sleep well."

"Thanks mom, you too" Jaig said.

She headed to her own tent, and fell asleep almost instantly. She'd need all her energy for tomorrow's planning and march to Nalic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! The conversation Ahsoka had with Anakin is the one from chapter 5 of a prophecy fulfilled


	3. The Attack on Nalic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 332nd takes control of the city Nalic, a historic city made out of sandstone - and also where Jaig was when her parents where attacked in her timeline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nalic is kind of based on European cities (because Mandalore is basically Star Wars Europe *gestures at how violent European history is*) so it’s full of military structures and old buildings. It’s also mostly built from sandstone

"Jaig, wake up! We're moving out in 10 minutes!"

She jolted awake at her fathers voice. "Five more minutes" she said, still half asleep.

"I already let you sleep for far longer than the rest of us" her father said "And we're moving out to our first large battle today. We need everyone to be there"

"Alright," she said "I'll get ready right away"

"Good" he said as he disappeared.

She threw on her armour as fast as she could, grabbed a ration bar and a bottle of water and went outside. the whole camp was up and ready to board the gunships that would take them to Nalic. Jaig shuddered at the thought. The last time she'd been here, she had visited Marina and when she got back her... 

"Jaig, you're in this one. With us" her mother from this timeline said.

Jaig ran over to the gunship.

"Sorry for oversleeping" she said.

"No worries" Rex said "I let you sleep a bit longer today. In case you needed the extra rest"

"Hey, you never let me sleep in" Fives protested. Rex just shot him an annoyed look.

"Thanks. And yeah, I did need it" Jaig said.

"You feel uneasy about this mission" Ahsoka said.

"I feel uncomfortable about this mission. Last time I went to Nalic, I visited my friend Marina. When I came back, I lost both of you"

"That won't happen this time" Rex promised her.

"I hope so too. But this is a battle, and we all know that there's no guarantee all of us will make it back."

"I know. It's best not to think about it too much. It'll distract you too much."

"I know, dad. Thanks."

* * *

When the gunships doors opened, Jaig saw that they were in the entrance to the dome. It was still quiet and the 332nd was gathering into formation. she could see that they were on the opposite side of the old, sandstone city from where Marina had lived.

"Where am I supposed to go?" she asked her father, gesturing to the formations.

"Up front with Commander Tano and I," he said "You know the way around here?"

"More or less. Not that well to be honest. Marina lived on the other side of the city" Jaig said, as she wondered if this battle would affect her friend. If her parents died or never met... Not that it really mattered. Jaig had gone back 20 years. Even if Marina was born, she'd never be in high school with her. 

"Okay. Maul is occupying the city hall. can you get us there"

"That's going to be hard to do without giving them a major advantage. The buildings in the area have embrasures on the roofs, and the streets are broad. We'd be completely exposed while they have the high ground"

"Then what do you suggest?" Rex asked

"Let Death watch take the main road. Their jetpack allow them to get up on top of the buildings and fight them on even ground. We should take the metro"

"You're suggesting we go by public transport?" Fives said.

"Yes, the metro station has it's main exit right in front of the city hall, and smaller exits on the sides and back. The station is right below the city hall actually"

"Wouldn't the stairs just create a bottleneck?" Fives asked.

"Yes, that's why we need to wait for the all clear from Death Watch" Jaig said.

"Aright. Get the men on the metro. I'll inform Bo-Katan of the change of plans" Rex said before walking off.

"Yes Sir" she said jokingly.

* * *

Everything was quiet in city hall station while the 332nd waited for their signal. They'd gotten into position as quietly as possible, to avoid alerting the enemy to their presence. Now, the last train packed with clones was arriving and they could get their signal any minute now.

Jaig had a bad feeling about all of this, but she didn't say anything. That would only worry the people around her.

Then, their signal came.

All of them rushed out, and Jaig quickly took in her surroundings. They were on the square in front of the city hall. The city hall itself looked just like it had in her timeline. Nalic was a historic city, after all. one of the oldest cities on Mandalore that hadn't been completely demolished during one of the many wars.

Both Death watch factions had taken to the skies and were now fighting above them. The 332nd wasted no time in firing at the red armoured form's jetpacks, who immediately notices them and returned fire.

Next to her, her father was firing as much as he could. She didn't feel comfortable with what he was doing, so she decided to join him to provide support. Just as she started looking for potential targets, she felt the force warn her against an incoming blasterbolt that was too far away to deflect.

Her father crumpled to the ground, holding his shoulder.

"Dad, NO!" she yelled as she jumped on him, standing over him protectively and returning fire.

She quickly realized that this was no use. She put her blasters away and pulled out her sabers, deflecting the blasterbolts away from her father.

"Kix, we need you here! Dad's down!" She yelled into the comm.

"Who's dead???" Kix asked over the come.

"Rex" she said while deflecting the bolts.

"Oh damn. And you still exist?"

"This is no time to argue. My dad is wounded. Get him out of here!"

"Oh your _dad_ " Kix said "I'm coming right away"

Jaig rolled her eyes. She'd chew the medic out later for whatever that was.

Then, she heard the familiar clanking of a droid and she looked around to see a red and black Zabrak. Maul.

"Where. Is. Kenobi?" he asked, clearly not in the mood to waste time on her.

"Not here" she said.

"Why would the send **you** instead of him?"

Jaig gave him a nonchalant shrug, but she immediately regretted it.

Maul grabbed her by the throat, raising her above her fathers prone form and slowly choking her. She dropped her sabers and started clawing at her throat, even though she knew it would be useless.

"I'll ask again. **Where. Is. KENOBI** "

The edges of her vision were going dark, and she couldn't have answered him even if she wanted to. 

Just as she felt like she was about to pass out, she heard her mom yell out "She said he's not here!" and she was let go. She landed on her father, knocking him out.

When her vision came back, she saw that her mom had started fighting Maul.

"Let's help her out" Jaig yelled to her uncles, who immediately turned around and started firing on the Zabrak.

She pulled out her blasters again and started firing on his legs with the intent to disable him.

Her dad had regained consciousness and joined her with his good arm. One of her red bolts hit Maul in the thigh and dark smoke rose out of his leg, Then, a flame burst out. She'd hit the battery.

Rex shot the other leg, and Ahsoka had a clear advantage now that he was without functioning legs. Just as she was about to bring down the final strike, she was shot by a Deathwatch member

"AHSOKA!!!" Rex screamed as he fired as fast as he could with both arms, even though Jaig could feel the pain radiating from him through the force.

Before Rex could kill the damaged Zabrak, the Mandalorian who shot Ahsoka pulled Maul away from the battlefield.

Jaig let them get away. She had a feeling her mother needed her.

Ahsoka was lying face down on the sandstone street. Jaig ran the 15 meters towards her and carefully placed her fingers to the edge of her mothers jaw, where the carotid artery was in Togruta. There was a pulse. Jaig let out a sigh of relief.

Rex was crawling towards them.

"Dad, it's okay. She's alive."

Rex sighed and started crawling with just his good arm, taking the pressure off his injury.

Ahsoka seemed to be waking up. she stirred and groaned after she shifted.

"Mom, are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," she grumbled "But my rear lekku hurts"

Jaig looked at her mother's lekku. It had a burn on it, but it was a superficial one. It looked like it had been from the plasma bouncing off the armour.

Then, she noticed the metal shining through the burnt fabric of her mothers clothing.

"You had a chest plate?" Jaig asked

"Yeah. Figured it wouldn't slow me down too much if I only protected the essential organs"

"In that case you'd need a bucket too" Jaig said.

"I'm glad you finally decided to wear some sort of armour." Rex said, the "I told you so" expression on his face clear through his bucket.

At that moment, Kix came running towards them.

"Sir, are you okay?" Kix asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Rex lied.

"No, he's not. he was shot in his right shoulder. And mom has a burned lekku"

"Okay," Kix said "Can you do her lekku for me?"

"Yeah, of course" She said. Her ARC training had included some basic medical training, and a superficial burn was easy. Heck, she'd done it at thirteen on her own right hand after she burned herself on the stove, and she was right handed like her mother instead of fully ambidextrous like her father was. 

Kix handed her the spare disinfectant, a cotton ball and a sealed bacta patch, and Jaig flipped her mothers lekku over her head so she could get to the underside better

"Can you hold it still for me?" she asked her mom.

"Okay," Ahsoka said, holding her lekku between her montrals.

Jaig poured some disinfectant on the cotton ball and rubbed it on the burn, cleaning away the sand and sooth from it. Ahsoka clenched her teeth, but kept quiet.

"Jaig, stop. You're hurting her" Rex said while Kix worked on his shoulder.

"I know, but this should be over as soon as possible" she said as she inspected the lekku.

"Yeah, I agree" Ahsoka said through gritted teeth.

"Kix, do you have some sterile water?"

"What for?"

"To wash away the disinfectant. Trust me, that shit hurts"

"In my medpack"

Jaig pulled the bottle towards her with the force, along with a new cotton ball, and quickly wiped her mothers lekku down. She then took the bacta patch out of it's seal and applied it. 

"Thanks," Ahsoka said "it does hurt less now"

"I know. You always did that for me in the future when I hurt my lekku, so I thought I'd return the favour" 

"Death watch is retreating," Kix said "We won for today. Which is good. I doubt we'd have been able to evac the both of you if they hadn't"

"Well, that's good" Rex said, holding his right pauldron in his hand because Kix had removed it to treat the wound.

"Yeah. That could have killed both of you" Jaig said.

"But it didn't. It might scar but that's okay" Rex said.

"But you didn't have a scar there in my timeline"

"Maybe it was treated in time?" Rex offered.

"Maybe. Or maybe you were never shot here. Maybe this timeline will be different"

"I know you're scared of losing us again," Ahsoka said "But you won't. Trust me. I have a good feeling about this"

"I hope you're right" Jaig sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)


	4. The Final Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When they arrive at the final camp, Jaig decides to take a walk. When she spots Echo's future headstone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. I'm pretty proud of this one.
> 
> It lines up with chapter 6 of "A Prophcey Fulfilled" (the first part)

When they walked out of the transport, Jaig froze. Behind her, Nalic's dome was still clearly visible on the horizon, but before her, Sundari's dome was close now. Not towering over them yet, but still close. She knew this place. It was the last camp.

Fives bumped into her as he carried a crate of supplies, hitting her in the montral with one of the corners.

"Watch out" he said, too late.

"How about you watch out" Jaig scoffed back, rubbing her montral.

"Hey, what's wrong?" her father asked as he walked out of the ship as well, his arm still in a sling, closely followed by Ahsoka.

"This is the last camp." Jaig said quietly.

"I hope so. We've been planning to make our final assault from here" Rex said.

"I know. but this camp was still here in the future. It brings back memories. I used to come here often, even though the mines guarding the perimeter weren't removed. It was a nice, quiet place"

"Okay. If this is difficult for you we can take you of the roster" Ahsoka offered.

"That would help. I just need some time to be alone"

"Alright. Maybe you can scout out the perimeter while you take a walk" Rex said.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be back before dinner" she said before walking off.

She walked to the edge of the camp where the defensive structures would be built after the tents were set up. The mines weren't there yet anyway, nor were the watchtowers or the burn mark. It was just an unremarkable stretch of dirt now.

She looked back at where the rest was setting up camp. The temporary buildings would be left here. She just kept walking.

Suddenly, she heard a loud clunk and felt her boot hit something. When she looked down, she saw that she had hit a large piece of metal with her armoured boot. A piece of metal that she recognized, even without the Aurebesh inscription it had had in her timeline.

 _Echo._ This was the graveyard.

She sank to her knees. This was so much worse now. She had always been a bit disappointed about how many uncles she had buried in mass graves or individual holes, most of them without gravestones or names except a few, but now...

Now she knew most of them. She was close with a few of them. She knew Echo now. He was no longer a vague memory that she tried to keep alive for the sake of her father and family tradition, he was family now.

Echo had helped her learn to read those blasted manuals, he'd accepted her as his niece pretty quickly, they had shared so many lunches together with some of the other men. Echo wasn't just her uncle now, he was her friend.

And now she was looking at his gravestone. Well, it wasn't a gravestone _yet_. She shook her head. It wouldn't be a gravestone now. She'd prevent his death too, just like how she had prevented Fives from dying.

But Echo didn't die like Fives had. She knew that Echo had known about the chips in her time, and had had his removed with Jesse, Kix and Rex. When order 66 had come down, he, Jesse and Kix had done their best to prevent the affected clones from finding Ahsoka while Rex fled with her and while Bo-Katan helped them fake their deaths. Echo was not seen on the broadcast of the republic troops leaving Mandalore, and when her father had gone back to the old camp, the grave had been confirmation enough.

She just sat there, staring at the piece of metal.

* * *

Ahsoka entered the medical tent with some food for Rex. He had been off duty since he was injured, so she decided to bring him some bread.

"Hey Cya're" she said.

Rex looked at her, and then at the food. "Is that for me?"

"No, I was going to start eating bread and I figured I'd do it in from of you just to be a tease"

"Oh."

"Of course it's for you. I don't even like bread" she said, tossing the bread onto his chest playfully and sitting down on the cot near his feet.

"Thanks," he said, putting his datapad down and eating with his good hand.

"How's your arm?"

"Doing better. Kix is going to change the bacta patch to one I can move my shoulder in this evening"

"That's good. So... Are you worried that Jaig willingly went into a minefield apparently?"

"Nah, she takes after you" Rex said.

"Hey, you're the reckless one here" She said, punching his good shoulder playfully.

"Nope. You are. At least I wear armour."

She looked down at his blacks and raised an eye marking at him.

"Most of the time" he added.

"I hope she'll be okay here" Ahsoka sighed.

"Yeah, me too. I genuinely can't imagine what it must be like to go back to the place you grew up before you were there, but it's hard. Especially since I grew up in Tipoca City's cloning facility. Most of the domes were built for us. The rest of Tipoca City is a few kilometres away, and I've never actually been there"

"I understand. The Jedi Temple would probably have been the same. It has always been the same. Well, until the war" she sighed "But aside from some people not being there, it would have been the same. It would've been weird, but not as bad as finding everyone dead"

Rex looked away at that. Ahsoka realized what she had implied there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that"

"I know. I'm just nervous."

"I know. We'll be fine" Ahsoka said.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Rex ate his bread and Ahsoka rubbed his knee.

Then, Rex's commlink went off.

Rex grabbed the bracer with his left. He couldn't put it on without using his injured right hand, so he just put it on his lap and answered the call.

"Rex, are you there?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, how are you?"

"I'm fine. In the middle of battle, but I figured you'd want to know this ASAP. Grievous died. General Kenobi shot him"

"Shot him? Like, with a blaster?"

"Yeah. He lost his damn saber again. I have it now."

"Does that happen often?"

"Almost daily, but I got to go!"

Cody hung up.

Rex and Ahsoka looked at each other. If Grievous was dead, _that order_ would happen soon.

* * *

Jaig was still sitting near the piece of metal when she felt Fives approach.

"Hey Jaig! Are you okay?"

 **"No"** she said.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting down next to her

"This will be a graveyard"

"Yeah, I know. How did you get the planning for our camp?"

"I saw what this looked like in the future"

Fives seemed to finally realise what was wrong.

"Oh... Anyone you knew?"

"In the future, no. Everyone here died before I was born. But I know some of them now"

Fives put his arm around her and she leaned into him. He gently rubbed her arm as she hid her face in his armour.

"Do you think we can prevent their deaths?"

"I don't know" she admitted "This is a war. We couldn't save the three men we lost at Nalic, or that Mandalorian woman. And I don't know details about how anyone died. And he died after my parents deserted."

"He? Are you talking about someone specifically"

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't talk about it"

"I know it's not me. I can deal with knowing who died"

"I doubt it"

"Jaig, I want to help you save him. It's the least I could do after you saved me and reunited me with Echo"

Jaig flinched

"Wait, is it Echo?" he asked.

Jaig pulled away and looked at her uncle. She didn't even have to say anything.

"We'll save him. I promise" Fives said, more to himself than to Jaig. Then, he looked back at Jaig. "Let's go home."

She nodded and Fives helped her up.

"We shouldn't tell him" Jaig said

Fives just nodded and walked back to the camp, followed by Jaig.

* * *

Ahsoka sat alone in her room. She had just finished talking to Anakin about the recent battle, the casualties, and Jaig. She had told Anakin that she wanted to go through with having a child, even if she wasn't sure if it would be Jaig. And she meant it.

But the idea was still weird. She was starting to have mixed feelings. At first, she dreaded the idea. But now, a part of her was looking forward to starting a family.

She was taken out of her train of thoughts when Rex entered her chambers, his arm visibly more mobile with the new bacta patch.

"Good evening" he said, slipping into the bed next to her.

"Did Kix release you?" she asked

"Kinda? I'm on bed rest but I can do that in our shared quarters. What were you doing?"

"Thinking"

"About what?"

"Having kids"

"Oh"

"Yeah. To be honest, I'm looking forward to it now" she said, lying down next to him.

"Yeah, me too" he said, pulling her close. His scruffy face scratched against her montrals, but in a good way. She pulled herself on top of him and kissed him deeply.

In response, he slid his arm under her clothes.

"Hold on" she said.

She leaned over to the crate they used as a night stand and pulled a box of condoms from it.

"I said I looked forward to having kids, but I don't want to start just yet" she said, climbing back on top of him.

"Of course" Rex said as he smiled and kissed her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :) Please let me know what you think


	5. Order 66

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today is the day that order 66 happened in Jaig's timeline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is parallel to chapter 6 of A Prophecy Fulfilled

Jaig woke up with a heavy feeling in her stomach, which she hoped was just anxiety. She knew getting anxious when nothing happened wasn't the Mandalorian way, but she'd rather be a bit too anxious than have this feeling of dread be a warning from the force.

Today was the day. Empire day. Or, well, it would be next year in her time. It might never be empire day in this time.

She got up, put on her armour and went to the mess for breakfast.

She could feel the anxiety emanating from the room as she sat down with Fives and Echo.

"Jaig, it's good to see you" Echo said.

"I can tell that you want to ask me something. Just ask me" she said, slightly irritated.

"Do you know at what time the order was given?"

"No, but I know it was during first watch in the evening. Mom had taken the first watch, and dad had decided he wanted to talk to her. It's probably what saved them"

"Oh, Okay. So we can basically stress about this all day?" Echo asked.

Jaig just nodded and Echo sighed.

"Jaig, do you want us to sneak the three of you away from the camp just in case?" Fives offered.

"No, the whole 332nd is dechipped. I already asked my parents if they wanted to leave, but they refused. They said that they trusted me when I told them that removing the chip gives clones the choice to follow order or not. And they told me they trusted the men to make the right one, and that they'd be able to defend themselves if some clones decided to follow it. So they'll stay"

"Alright. Do you want to train with us then? To distract ourselves"

"Yeah, sounds good"

* * *

As the sun was setting over the camp, Jaig was trying to get a fire going. She wasn't in the mood to put a lot of effort into getting the fire started, so she grabbed one of her sabers and lit the fire with them.

"I saw that" She heard Ahsoka say behind her.

"Mom! I-"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to lecture you on how to treat your lightsaber. I'm out of it too. Today still feels weird"

Jaig sighed and sat down at the fire "Did you get any updates on the chancellor's trial?"

"No, the off-world transmitter is still out of commission." Ahsoka said, sitting down as well "The good one at least. We still have the low bandwidth one, so if the order is given we'll still receive it. We can't watch the holonet though"

"Oh... so we can't even just not receive the order this time?" Jaig asked.

"No, turning it off would probably get us into more trouble. We need to know what's going on" Ahsoka said.

"Yeah. Do you want to wait at the fire?" Jaig asked. The mandalorians had offered to take all the watches today, so she knew that Ahsoka didn't have a watch this time.

"Yeah, sure. I'll ask some of the boys to join us too if that's alright with you"

"Sounds great. I'll watch the fire while you get them"

* * *

The sun had set now and Jaig, Ahsoka, Rex, Echo, Fives, Tup, Jesse and Kix were all sitting around the fire. They had been talking while the the sun was setting, but now they had fallen quiet. They all knew that sometime during the night, the call would come or not. If it did, they still had a choice to make.

The group here had decided what they'd do, they had all talked about it at length. But not all clones were that close with Ahsoka, even in the 332nd there were some that were more loyal to the republic than to the Jedi.

"Are you sure we should just be sitting here?" Kix asked.

"What else should we be doing?" Jesse asked.

"We could all put our weapons in a large pile and chain ourselves up just in case?" Tup offered.

"What the hell?" Jesse asked.

"No, he might be on to something" Fives said.

"Yeah. No offence, but I know how hard resisting those chips is. I shot General Tiplar"

"No, you didn't" Fives said "You changed your mind at the last moment shot a droid next to her"

"No, I tried to kill her. I missed, but that doesn't change my intentions"

"Well, clearly the chips made you disoriented and a terrible shot. So Ahsoka should be fine" Kix said.

"I made him miss" Jaig admitted.

"What?" Tup asked.

"I made you miss. I used the force to move your blaster while you were pulling the trigger. It's a trick my parents taught me"

"Wait, you can do that?" Ahsoka asked "Without them noticing, I mean?"

"It takes a lot of practice, but yes. It was one of the things you can do without giving away that you're force sensitive, so it was important to learn as self defence"

"Well, I prefer to be in binders just in case" Tup said, already throwing away his weapons.

"Tup, no. We need everyone to be able to fight in case we're attacked" Rex said "Ahsoka will be fine"

"Shaak Ti might not" Kix said under his breath.

"What?" Jesse asked

"She's on Kamino, surrounded by shinies. They still have chips"

The other clones gasped.

"I know it sounds harsh," Jaig said "But we can't worry about her. There is nothing we can do and she knows about the chips"

"I know." Kix sighed.

* * *

Cody heard the dull thud of a heavy metal object hitting the sand next to him. He sighed. He knew what it was, even before looking at it.

" _This weapon is your life, Anakin_ " he said to himself before picking up General Kenobi's lightsaber and clipping it to his belt.

A few moments later, Obi-Wan appeared next to him, riding that varactyl that had gotten weirdly attached to him.

"Sir, I think you'll be needing this" Cody said, handing the lightsaber back to his general.

"Thank you, Cody. Now let's get a move on. We've got a battle to win"

"Yes Sir" Cody said as General Kenobi sped off on Boga, who scaled the cliff side easily.

Then, his comm beeped.

He activated it.

"Commander Cody. The time has come. Execute Order 66" the former chancellor said.

Cody froze. This was it. The moment he had to decide between the republic, and his general. He briefly considered following the order, like the regs said he should. Even though he wasn't sure if he had to take orders from a former chancellor.

But the general had been there for him. The chancellor hadn't done anything.

"Yes my Lord" Cody lied. If he was going to commit treason, he knew it was best not to admit to it before the actual treason.

He cut the connection, but then he froze. The message had been resent to all communicators that shared his scramble sets.

So, that was basically the whole 212th and the 501st, who shared a scramble set with them because they worked together so often. And the 501st shared one with the 332nd, since the 332nd was all former 501st.

Kriff.

Before he could warn anyone, he had to think fast. Unlike the 501st and 332nd, his battalion had some shinies in their ranks that hadn't been dechipped yet.

And one of them took aim at his general.

Without thinking, Cody threw himself on his younger brother, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. The shiny's bucket hit a rock and he went limp.

Cody immediately checked for a pulse. It was strong and steady, his brother was just unconscious. Around them, more shinies were knocked out, stunned or otherwise restrained by their older brothers. He put his vod'ika in binders and called Rex to warn him about the shinies.

* * *

All of them had fallen back into silence when Rex's comm rang.

Rex took a deep breath before looking at it. He knew what it was.
    
    
    Important Message:
    From: Chancellor Palpatine
    To  : CT-7567, Captain Rex
    Retransmitted from CC-1119
    Retransmitted from CC-2224
    

He opened it.

No image appeared, the bandwidth did not support that. All he got was a voice, that said _"Commander Cody. The time has come. Execute Order 66"_ and then it blinked out.

Silence.

No one moved.

They all listened for signs that someone would follow the order.

No one did.

No one dared to break the silence either.

Rex was just considering how to break the silence when his comm rang again.
    
    
    Incoming voice message
    From: CC-2224, Commander Cody
    To  : CT-7567, Captain Rex
    

Rex picked it up, putting it on speaker so the rest could hear it as well.

"CT-7567, Captain Rex here" he said, falling back to formality from nerves again.

"Rex? Are you affected?"

"No Codes. I'm fine. Just some leftover nerves." he said.

"Okay, that's good to hear. A few shinies were affected here but we got them under control"

"That's good to hear"

"Who do you share a scramble set with? The command seems to be spreading"

"The 322nd, 501st and 212th" Rex said.

"Good. Unless any clone heard the order when it was given to me, it shouldn't affect any of the other troops"

"That's good to hear," Rex said. He heard several blastershots in the background. "You sound busy"

"I am, but I had to check up on you"

"Thanks for that, vod. You should get back to your-"

"He dropped it. _Again_ " Cody said, probably more to himself than to Rex, and Cody hung up.

Rex looked at his men and family. The tension they all held was gone now. He even had a feeling that the force was lighter now, though he didn't know how he knew. Either some force sensitivity had rubbed off on him or he was just reading it from the faces of his wife and daughter. Either way, it was a good feeling.

"We should all get some rest now," he said "Tomorrow is a big day"

He was met with several nods, a few "goodnight captain"s and one "Good night dad" as they all went off to their own tent. All, except Ahsoka.

"The Sith is gone now. I can feel it" She said.

"That's good news" he said, kissing her forehead "We should get some rest too though. We might even end up fighting Maul tomorrow"

"Yeah, we should" she said, smiling at him.

Everything would be alright now. They could both feel it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading
> 
> Also yeah, Rex refers to her as his wife even though they're not married (yet)


	6. The End of the Siege

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 332nd has a final showdown with Maul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here’s the last chapter. There will be two more fics in this series. I might be able to spend more time on them because school is canceled now

The wind was whistling in the doors of the gunship as they sped towards Sundari palace and Jaig was nervous. They weren't just flying straight towards the final battle, were going into unfamiliar territory now. Not literally, she knew the palace relatively well. But this was the time her parents had spent in the bunker. She knew Maul was defeated a few days after order 66 and the 332nd had defeated the rest of death watch and the remaining crime syndicates.

But that was the only thing still likely to happen that way. Most of her future would never happen in the way it did, if it did at all. Her parents weren't in that bunker now, they had been fighting their way into Sundari at the gate for the last few days. After the gates were secured, they had sent the gunships in.

"Are you okay?" Rex asked. He had come with them, but would stay on the LAATi. His arm still hadn't healed well enough for him to fight, though he could use it for most things now.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about how this future is going to be so different this time around"

"Yeah, that's fair. Your mom and I will definitely go back to Coruscant after this to be honest"

"I understand." Jaig said "You want to stay with my uncles"

"Yeah," Rex said "I might move here afterwards, but honestly I'm unsure if I'd move here if given the choice"

"What's wrong with Mandalore?"

"Nothing. But we might have better options this time"

"Yeah," Ahsoka added "Padmé said she might be able to get the clones housing on Naboo. Which, no offence, has a better climate"

Jaig laughed at that "Almost any planet has a better climate"

"Except Tatooine" Ahsoka said.

"Or Geonosis" Jesse added

"Felucia is kinda shit too" Echo said.

"Umbara" Fives said between coughs.

"Okay maybe Mandalore isn't that bad," Rex admitted "But it's not as good as Naboo"

Bo-Katan glared at him through her visor, and he quickly added "In terms of climate"

Bo-Katan just shrugged and changed the subject.

"We're almost at Sundari palace"

"According to our troops already deployed there, Maul is in the main hall." Ahsoka said "If we can get our troops in the corridors around the main hall, we can shoot him from all sides at once. He won't be able to block that for long"

"Sir, we'll need someone to keep him there"

"I'll go" she said, before turning on her comm and contacting their pilot "Get me above the glass roof"

"Ahsoka no, it's too dangerous to do that alo-"

Rex was cut off by the doors opening and Ahsoka jumping out of the gunship.

"Jare'la jetti!" he cursed.

"Yeah, how do you put up with them?" Bo-Katan asked.

"Honestly, I don't know" Rex said.

"I'm going too" Jaig said "Dad, Echo, stay here. Especially you, Echo"

Echo tilted his helmet at her, but Fives immediately put a hand on his shoulder "she's got this"

"No she doesn't" Echo said.

"Whatever. Don't follow me" Jaig snarled at Echo.

"Don't follow you" Echo repeated, and Jaig realized she might have been a little too persuasive there. Whatever. She jumped down, into the hole her mother made in the roof.

She used the force to push against the wall so she wouldn't land on top of where her mother was fighting Maul and rolled out her landing before looking around. In the middle of the hall, Ahsoka was fighting Maul, while several Mandalorians were surrounding them. Before they could fire, the clones took aim at them from the walkways on the second level, taking cover behind the embrasures.

The Mandalorians and the clones exchanged blasterfire, and Jaig decided to join in on that and started firing on the Mandalorians.

But then she heard a loud crashing sound. The gunship she had arrived on was shot down and came crashing through the roof.

Ahsoka must have felt it happen, pushed Maul back and turned around to look at the ship.

Maul immediately recovered from the blow Ahsoka dealt him and prepared to strike her.

Jaig fired several blasterbolts to Maul, but he felt them coming. He deflected them and growled at her.

Then, a blue basterbolt burst through his chest and he fell. Behind him, Rex was standing with his blaster still smoking.

Maul was dead.

But the Mandalorians noticed it too, and there was no way they'd surrender to them now. Not when multiple people had had a hand in killing their leader.

They turned their blasters on Jaig and Ahsoka.

"Back to back" Jaig ordered her mother through the force as the first blasterbolts started hitting them.

Ahsoka sent affirmation through the force, and jumped towards her and Jaig dropped her blasters and pulled her lightsabers.

Ahsoka landed next to her and pushed herself against Jaig's back and started deflecting blasterbolts.

Soon, the clones had picked off the remaining Mandalorians and the battle was over

"Standing back to back was a good idea" Ahsoka said "I honestly don't know if I'd have been able to deflect that many blasterbolts from all sides alone"

"Probably not, considering how effective Order 66 was in my time" Jaig said "I did think of a few ways that some Jedi might have survived"

They heard some pained sounds from the gunship and immediately ran over.

In the gunship, they found Echo with his one remaining hand covered in blood, being tended to by a very worried Fives and Bo-Katan. Rex was sitting on the edge of the ship, that was lying on it's side.

Rex didn't seem too worried about Echo's condition, and greeted Ahsoka with a kiss and pulled her close as she sat next to him.

"What happened?" Jaig asked

"Nothing too bad," Bo-Katan said "He cut his hand during the crash and Fives is being a baby about it"

"Yeah" Echo said "I'll be fine. I don't even think I'll need to see Kix"

"Oh no, you're seeing Kix" Jaig said. 

"It's just a small cut" Rex said "Other people with worse injuries will have to take priority"

"Dad, please" she said as she jumped down next to Echo.

He sighed. "Alright then, if he wants to go, he can"

"I don't think I'll need to" Echo said, showing her the cut.

It honestly didn't look that bad. After the blood was wiped off, it looked like it was only a centimetre long. Maybe a bit longer, but not too much. It also wasn't bleeding that profusely"

"You should still see the medic, just in case" Jaig said, thinking about how he had a decent gravestone. This would explain it. If he had died from infection in the coming days, he wouldn't be buried in the mass grave they'd make for today's casualties. They'd have time to make him a proper gravestone too. That would have explained everything about his death in her timeline.

"Alright, I will" Echo said "When we get back to the camp that is. I don't want to take away any of the care from the people who need it"

"Understandable," Fives said as he helped Echo up "But please, take care of yourself"

"Okay, no need to worry so much about me" Echo said.

* * *

The next day, Jaig and Fives were sitting outside of the medbay. They were the only ones who knew about the gravestone. 

"Do you think he'll live this time?" Fives asked.

"How would I know?" she admitted "This is probably going to be the last point in time that overlaps with what I know. After we go back to Coruscant, everything will be different"

"You're coming back with us?" Fives asked "I assumed you'd want to stay here"

"Yes. Mandalore is my home planet, but My family is where I belong" she said.

Fives smiled at her. "You know, having a niece is one of the best things that happened to me. I don't know where I'd be without you"

Jaig shot him a confused look "You do though"

"Oh, Right. I do" Fives said, embarrassed that he had forgotten _that_.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

Then, Kix came out of the medbay with a dark, bloody piece of metal on a tray. 

"Echo had a nail in his hands that he somehow didn't notice" Kix said, sighing. "It would have gotten infected badly if we didn't get it out. How did you know?"

Both Jaig and Fives let out a sigh of relief.

"There was a gravestone on the old campsite" Jaig said "But let's just keep it at that. What are his chances now?" 

"He'll be fine, but I'll keep the stone a secret until we're going back to Coruscant. What are your plans for that by the way?"

"I'm leaving with you. You guys are my family after all, and I want to move forward. Even if my new ID lists me as a citizen of Mandalore" she said, flashing her new ID card at him.

"A foundling?" he asked, looking at it.

She nodded "That's easier than explaining the lack of a significant age difference"

"Well, I'm glad that you're staying" Fives said "I just wonder what's going to happen to us now that the war is over"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! The next two fics will answer that last question
> 
> Please leave kudos and/or comments ito let me know what you think


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